Just Partners
by Gentle-Raindrops-and-Moondust
Summary: Riley and Gabriel are just partners. Except for when they're not. Series of mostly unrelated oneshots
1. Proximity Underlook

Proximity Underlook

"Hey, I'm calling in for our nightly check in." Riley's voice said through the phone.

Gabriel was sitting on his normal spot on the counter, looking up at Riley on her balcony.

"Good job today, partner." he smiled, and watched her immediately smile back.

"Yeah, you too." she replied. "Although, next time try not to make an army of men come down on us."

"It was not an entire army." Gabriel said defensively.

"Sure it wasn't." Gabriel didn't need to see her eye roll to know it happened.

They sat in silence for a few heartbeats.

"Good night, Gabriel."

"Good night, Riley." Gabriel smiled again, and watched as she clicked the phone off and went inside.

Gabriel slid off the counter and got ready for bed. Once he got in bed, there was nothing he could do to actually fall asleep. He tossed and turned, but his mind was racing. He lay there for about 30 minutes, then decided to get up.

Gabriel tried the usual stuff, milk, tv, reading, even using the chip to get a satellite overview of the city. He sighed. It was going to be one of THOSE nights.

At a loss for what to do, he decided to sit on the counter in his nightly check in spot. It reminded him of Riley, which always comforted him. Gabriel leaned his head against the wall, content with watching over her apartment. Sometimes he rendered being in the apartment with her, sleeping soundly.

When Gabriel didn't answer the door in the morning, Riley let herself in and found him still on the counter, asleep.

"Gabriel." she punched his arm.

"Uh? Yeah?" he asked as he jolted awake.

"What are you doing?"

"Proximity underlook."


	2. Date Night

Date Night

After work on Friday, Riley drove Gabriel home and walked him to the apartment.

"I have a date tonight." she said quickly.

Riley watched his expression closely, but his face stayed passive, although she thought she saw something flash in his eyes.

"Alright." he replied, but it sounded forced.

"Jameson will be here soon, and you better listen to him." Riley felt like she was scolding a child.

Gabriel pushed past her and walked into the apartment. She knew he was upset, because he was silent.

"Be careful." he said.

Riley thought that response was odd, but she brushed it off and closed the door.

It was around 9:30 and Riley was enjoying her date with a man named Jacob Lewis, whom she met at a bar.

"So this guy tells me-" he was interrupted by Riley's phone.

"Oh, sorry! I thought I turned it off..." she glanced at the caller ID. Gabriel.

"What?" she spat into the phone.

"Riley come home!" Gabriel whined.

Riley sighed. "I'm in the middle of something right now."

She glanced at Jacob, who thankfully was smiling. "Kid?" he whispered.

"Something like that." she replied.

"Rileeeyyy!" Gabriel whined again.

"Gabriel Vaughn, are you drunk?" she hissed.

"No..." he mumbled.

"Put Jameson on the phone."

She heard some crackling noise, and then the frustrated voice of Chris Jameson.

"Riley, you owe me big time."

"I know, I'm sorry. What's going on?"

"Well, he was pouting for a while, then broke a few things, and now there's no beer."

Riley sighed then looked at Jacob and mouthed 'sorry'. Thankfully he just laughed a

waved it off. So far she was in the clear with him.

"Give the phone back to Gabriel." she told Jameson.

The phone crackled, and she could hear Gabriel breathing.

"Gabriel, bed. Now."

"Only if you come with me."

Riley froze. "Um, Gabriel? How drunk are you?" she whispered.

"C'mon, Riley. You know you want to." he taunted.

Riley felt heat rising to her cheeks, and she hoped Jacob couldn't see. "I'll be home in a minute." she growled.

"Yay!"

"No, not-" she was cut off because he hung up.

Riley looked back up to Jacob, who was now frowning. She knew she was still blushing.

"Let me guess-married?" he asked.

"No way." she nearly choked.

"Boyfriend, then."

"No, no, it's nothing like that."

"You get a call from someone named Gabriel, and now you're blushing. I can't imagine what that means."

"I'm sorry, I don't know how to explain."

"Yeah right." he spat.

"I'm sorry, I have to go. I'll call you?" she grabbed her coat and got up.

"Don't bother." Jacob threw money on the table and left.

Riley felt tears burn the back of her eyes as she drove to Gabriel's apartment. When she knocked on the door, she was met by a scared looking Jameson.

"Good luck." he said as he escaped. Riley went into the apartment and found Gabriel sprawled out on the couch, shirtless.

"Riley, you're home!" he said excitedly.

Riley watched as he stumbled off the couch. He walked towards her, his arms open for a hug. When he got close enough, she slapped him.

"Ow!" he cried, stumbling back and rubbing his cheek.

"Don't you DARE come near me! I hope you're happy, because you ruined my date and any chance I'll ever have dating again!" she yelled.

Gabriel frowned, seeing the pain in her face. "I'm sorry." he said.

"'I'm sorry.'" she mimicked. "Like that's going to help me?" she was very close to screaming, but not quite there.

"I'm really sorry?"

Riley slapped him again. Then she started taking swings at him, and all he could do was wrap her in his arms and take the pain. After a few hits, she just started crying. She cried into his chest, and he held her for a while.

"Done?" he asked as the tears tapered off.

Riley nodded and pulled away slightly, looking up at him.

"Were you ever drunk?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Nope. I hid the beer."

"Well, then you sure scared the hell out of Jameson." she laughed slightly.

"Yeah, I'll apologize later." he said distantly.

"You want to explain yourself then?" she frowned.

"Yeah, about that. I...may have been a little...jealous."

"Jealous? Of what?" Riley laughed a little.

"That someone else was getting your affections." he growled.

Riley smiled, then rose onto her toes and planted a small kiss on his lips. "You mean those affections?"

Gabriel kissed her again, but harder. A shiver raced down her spine, making Gabriel smile. Her fingers tangled in his hair, and he pulled her closer.

She jumped and wrapped her legs around his waist, never breaking contact with his lips.

As he carried her to the bedroom, he whispered, "I told you so."

Riley laughed quietly. "I'm still mad at you."

Gabriel put her on the bed. "Yeah, I know."

**Okay, so I had a somewhat order in these fics, but all he papers fell out and now they're in there randomly, and I like an idiot didn't number them or date them...sorry! This one is the most recent one I've written, so technically this should be the last one on here.**


	3. Easter

After two years of marriage and 3 years of partnership, Riley knew that Gabriel went to church every Easter and then had dinner with his family. Of course she went with him, even if she wasn't a church person.

"Riley, we're going to be late." Gabriel said for the third time.

"Relax, Gabriel. When have I ever made us late?"

"Only every day." he reminded her.

Riley huffed. "Fine, I'll admit that one."

"Lexi! Let's go!" Gabriel called to their two year old daughter, Alexis.

Within moments, Lexi ran out of the room she was playing in. Gabriel opened his arms and she jumped into them, something that always made Riley cringe.

Alexis had Gabriel's dimples and nose, but her hair was wavy and the same color as Riley's. She had blue-green eyes, and a perfect mixture of their personalities.

"Church!" She shouted, her hair bouncing as she wiggled with excitement.

As Riley looked at her husband and her child, her heart was filled with love. When she found out that she was pregnant, Riley panicked. In her line of work, a child was a bad idea. It was actually Lillian who convinced her to keep Lexi, and she could never thank her enough now.

The family went out to the car, and Gabriel buckled Lexi in while Riley went around to the drivers side.

The arrived early, so Alexis got to play on the church playground.

"Alexis! Don't ruin your dress!" Riley called to the toddler.

Against Riley's will, Gabriel had taken them shopping for an Easter dress for Lexi. Riley had never been a fan of dresses; they were annoying, restraining, and made her job difficult. Lex wore a sea foam green dress with white lace around the middle and crawling up the hem. Riley refused to wear a dress, so she wore one of her suits. She was infinitely jealous of Gabriel, who got to wear a polo and jeans.

Church was about to start, so they took Lexi to the nursery. Leaving her places made Riley nervous, because she couldn't protect her there. Gabriel was precious cargo for kidnappers, which made Lexi leverage, and the reason why Riley didn't want a child. Once she was old enough, Alexis Vaughn would be the most dangerous person at school.

Gabriel slipped an arm around her waist as the walked back to the sanctuary. "It's okay, Riley. She's safe here."

Riley warmed at his touch. She loved that he knew exactly what she was thinking.

They took their seats in the sanctuary, and service started. Gabriel's arm was draped around her shoulders lazily, but Riley couldn't relax. She kept scanning the crowd for anyone suspicious.

When the service ended, Riley couldn't wait to pick Lexi up from the nursery. When they got there, Lexi was excited to see them.

"Momma! Daddy! Look what I made!" she held up various art projects.

"Wow! You're a really good artist!" Riley exclaimed, receiving a brilliant smile that showed off her dimples.

Riley picked the child up, and it immediately comforted her to have her close. They walked back to the car, Lexi talking on and on about her time in the nursery.

As they drove home, Lexi chanted "Jesus Loves Me" all the way. Both parents were sick of it, but neither had the heart to stop her.


	4. Laser Tag

Laser Tag

Saturday was their only day off, and even then they usually had to work or got called in in the middle of the day.

"If we get called in today, I swear someone's going to get shot." Riley growled.

Gabriel was laying out on the couch, taking up most of the room. "I'm bored."

Riley sighed. "Gabriel, if you're not being shot at, you're bored."

Gabriel smiled slightly. "Yeah."

Riley flipped through the channels, but Saturday TV was Soap Operas and talk shows. All the movies in Riley's collection were "boring and stupid" according to Gabriel.

Gabriel stretched out farther, nearly pushing Riley off the couch. His socked feet were at her hip, and every so often her would wiggle his toes, tickling her.

"Can't we go somewhere?" Gabriel whined.

"Where do you want to go?"

Gabriel thought for a minute, using the chip to search for interesting places that they could go have fun.

"Disney World is open." Gabriel suggested.

Riley rolled her eyes. "There is no way we're going to Disney World in two days."

Gabriel searched so more, and finally settled on one place.

"Laser Tag."

Riley raised her eyebrows. "Gabriel, if we play laser tag, your "masculinity" will be bruised even more." she teased.

"Is that a challenge I hear?" Gabriel rose from the couch.

"Maybe."

Gabriel smirked. "You're on."

* * *

When they got to the Laser Tag store, each were given a gun and a belt. They put the belt on as the rules were told to them. Of course, Riley had to be careful that she didn't use her REAL gun, because she would be doing the opposite of her job.

Both took their places on the playing field. The room was dark, filled with black lights and flashing lights. The field was much like the place where Riley first took a bullet for Gabriel. Except this time, the only thing in danger was Gabriel's feelings.

The buzzer sounded, and Riley crept around the various walls, gun first. It reminded her much of clearing a building, except now she was looking to shoot Gabriel.

It wasn't hard to find Riley, because she was as loud as a wounded animal. He shot at her multiple times, laughing silently as she ducked behind a wall. He knew she couldn't fight back until her gun recharged.

Gabriel hurried to where she was hiding, but he wasn't prepared for her attack. She shot him several times, following him as he raced away.

Riley stayed close, shooting him when she had the chance. She had no doubt that she had more points than him, because he was shooting wildly. Suddenly he swung around, and couldn't help but run into him. He caught her easily against his chest, and instead of letting go, Gabriel held her there.

"Let go!" Riley hissed.

"Nope." Gabriel said as he shot her.

Their faces were extremely close, and she could feel his warm breath on her cheek. Riley was still pinned to him, and suddenly his mouth was very close to her ear.

"I win." he said, his lips nearly brushing her ear, making her shiver.

"Cheater!" she spun away from him.

"What? you ran into me!" Gabriel laughed.

"Only cause you turned around!" Riley shot back, but she was laughing too.

The buzzer sounded, signaling that the game was over. They headed into the lobby, handing a bored looking attendant their guns and belts.

"What next?" Riley asked as they went back to the car.

"You get to buy me lunch." Gabriel grinned.

"No way." Riley said.

"I won the challenge."

"We never made a deal."

"Yeah, well, I'm making one. Lunch."

"Fine." Riley sighed.

Gabriel gave her a smug grin as they pulled out of the lot.


	5. This is War

**This is a death fic. Listen to the song "****_This is War_****" by 30 Seconds to Mars while reading to get where I got my inspiration.**

_This is War_

The day started out like normal, run, shower, coffee with Gabriel, then work. The day got weird when they got to work and everyone gave Gabriel nervous looks instead of their usual "good mornings". Then Lillian called him into her office.

"Gabriel, in my office."

Riley started to follow, but received a glare from Lillian. "Not you, Agent Neal."

She was confused, but returned to her desk and played an uneasy game of solitaire. Gabriel returned several minutes later, and then it was her turn.

"In the principle's office again." he joked, but she heard some underlying emotion.

She walked cautiously into Lillian's office.

"Lillian, what's this about?"

"Agent Vaughn is being reassigned to the Bravo Task force in Pakistan." Lillian said.

"Okay, so when do we leave?"

"You aren't going." Riley felt a huge pit open in her stomach. "You have been placed on the Presidental detail again. Effective immediately.

Riley felt a lump form in her throat, almost as big as the pit in her stomach. "What? Why?" she struggled to sound normal. "I'm Gabriel's protector!"

"Not anymore. Agent Neal, as of now, you are relieved of duty."

It felt like she had been slapped in the face.

"Yes, ma'am." she forced the words.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. She drove Gabriel home, holding back tears. Riley stayed for her usual beer.

"When do you leave?" she asked softly, breaking the silence.

"0600 hours."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, until she couldn't take it anymore.

"Why does it have to be you?!" she yelled suddenly, jumping up from her chair.

"I don't know." he said calmly.

"Bullshit." she snarled.

"Riley..." he tried.

"Why was I fired? Why am I being left in the dark?" she nearly screamed.

Gabriel slammed his beer down, making her jump. "Damn it, Riley! It was me! I told Lillian to keep you here no matter what!"

Riley was shocked into silence. What? Gabriel didn't want her with him?

"This is war, Riley. Not a mission. They need me and the chip back in the war." he said softly.

Riley didn't know what to say. Instead, she stood on her toes and pressed a small kiss to his cheek. Then she ran out of the apartment. "Just come back to me."

"I promise."

* * *

_3 months later_

Riley's day off was spent in her new apartment, relaxing. She was watching TV when she heard a knock on the door.

"Coming!" she yelled as she jumped off the couch.

When she opened the door, a very teary Lillian, Nelson, and Dr. Cassidy stood there. At the sight of her, Nelson exploded into tears.

"Come in?" she said confusedly.

The former team members shuffled in. "What's going on?" she asked worriedly.

"It's Gabriel, Riley. He's been killed in Pakistan." Lillian said hoarsely.

Riley stumbled and nearly fell. "What?" she whispered.

The team nodded numbly. Riley felt the reality of it crashing down on her. Gabriel would never have coffee in the mornings with her, never have a beer after work. Never walk into Cyber command again. Never come back to her.

Riley let out a loud sob. The whole group stood and hugged her as she cried.

* * *

Later, when her friends left, Riley was curled on the couch watching comedies that didn't make her laugh. Suddenly her phone alerted her to an email. She opened it, and almost cried when she saw who it was from. Gabriel.

She opened it and immediately started to cry. There was a video link titled "Riley's Renders." Somehow Gabriel had found a way to download all of his cyber renders into a video. All of them were memories or renders of her, good, bad, and embarrassing.

The message at the bottom read:

_Dear Riley,_

_If you're reading this, then I didn't come home like I promised. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry I couldn't keep my promise. I wish I had more time to tell you this. I should have told you before I left. I love you. I fell in love with you the first day you decided you wouldn't run away like the others had. I wish we had more time to figure this out. That's why I made Lillian keep you home. I love you. Live a good life, Riley. For me. Get married, have kids and a picket fence house. Stay safe. I love you._

_Love, _

_Gabriel._


End file.
